Exercise: A Means to an End

     There seems to be a lot of debate in the strength and conditioning world over whether different set/rep/load combinations build different types of muscle.  For example, some people think that low weight loads with extremely high repetitions build long skinny muscles while extremely heavy loads for a small number of repetitions builds only bulky muscle.  This is really nonsense, and I will explain why.
     Your physique is how the shape of your body looks.  The single most determining factor in your physique is your DIET.  It is NOT the number of reps or sets or the size of the load.  It is your diet.  Your diet has a far more profound impact than any other thing you will do to improve your physique, I would almost go as far as to say than any other factor combined (genetics excluded).  As I have said earlier posts your weight is determined by calories consumed vs calories burned, that's it.  If you want to  loose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat; and if you want to gain weight then you need to eat more than you burn.  Simple as that.  However, your body composition (what accounts for  your body weight: muscle, fat, bone, water, etc...) is determined by WHAT you eat.  With out going into too much detail, if all you eat is butter then whether you loose or gain weight you will still look like butter; the same is true if all you eat is steak.  The concept that "you are what you eat" is mostly true with the exception that your body NEEDS fat, carbohydrates, and protein.  They are ALL important necessities for your diet.
     But this post isn't about dieting, its about exercise.  While different exercises do change your physique as directly as exercising in general, they do serve a very specific purpose.  The easiest way to explain this is to say that you should "practice how you will play."  If you want to be a faster sprinter, then you need to sprint.  If you want to be a better tennis player, you need to get more sets in on the court.  If you have decided that you would like to lift weights to increase your athletic performance then there are a few things you should also realize. 
     While different exercises do not determine your physique, what they do do is condition your body to be more tolerant of a certain stimulus.  What does that mean?  It means that if you work explosive exercises like power cleans, you will develop very strong white (fast-twitch) muscle fibers while your red (slow-twitch) muscle fibers will remain the same or possibly weaken.  This is why I call exercises a means to an end.  The exercises that you choose to do should derive some sort of skill that you will be able to use when you perform.  Obviously if you just want to "live healthier" then you have a lot of play in your exercise routine.  If you are a body builder, then you also  have a lot of play but concentrate more on working isolation (one muscle group at a time) exercises.  If you are a power lifter then it is doing you no good to work on muscle endurance, you need to keep the reps low and the load high to condition your body for your competitions.  If you are an endurance athlete (runners for example) weights can still help you but you will want to keep the weight very low and the reps very high, as this is how your body will perform when put to the test, with a low load and a very long duration.  Football players often want to brag about their bench press when in reality they should be working explosive movements such as power cleans, jerk presses, power snatches, clean and presses, etc... because unless you plan on getting knocked flat on your a** you will never lie on your back to push your opponent around. 
     Are you getting the idea yet?  Practice how you play.  Exercise conditions your muscles and body to a specific stimulus.  If endurance is your sport, your training should be long and enduring.  If you need to be explosive, then you should train explosive exercises.  If your a fighter, then fight.  Every aspect of your training should incorporate some skill that you will use in your athletic performance.  Even for bodybuilders, as much as I despise the idea, if you "just want to look good" then the numbers shouldn't mean a thing, appearance does.  If you are just trying to live healthier, then you don't need to worry about numbers or appearance, simply trust in your diet and your exercise is purely a means of caloric expenditure.  Practice how you play.  Good luck all!